1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a token-enabled document services system, and more particularly to, a standalone device for identifying document services of non token-enabled devices to token-enabled mobile computing devices.
2. Description of Related Art
While the use of mobile computing devices is becoming more prevalent among mobile workers, transfer of document information between mobile computing devices is often limited due to inadequate storage capacity on such devices or due to inadequate communication channel bandwidth. To overcome these limitations, many mobile workers carry a laptop computer with them while traveling. Although laptop computers are increasingly smaller and lighter, their functionality, which is designed to meet the requirements of office-based document work, is determined largely by the desktop machines from which they evolved. Powerful editors and spreadsheet applications, for example, that are essential in certain office-based work environments have limited utility while away from the office. In some circumstances, mobile workers carry laptop computers simply to be able to access their documents, and not necessarily to create or edit them.
A mobile document transaction service for overcoming these limitations is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,321, which is entitled xe2x80x9cSystem and Method for Accessing and Distributing Electronic Documents.xe2x80x9d More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,321 discloses a system for transferring between computers document identifiers that represent a particular document, rather than the document itself. This system can include any number of workstations, file servers, printers and other fixed devices (including multifunction devices) coupled to a network. In addition this system can include a number of mobile computing devices carried by users and coupled to the network by an infrared (IR) or radio (RF) link. Each mobile computing device appears to hold a users personal collection of documents, with the devices being programmed to receive, transmit, and store document identifiers (e.g., a URLxe2x80x94xe2x80x9cUniform Resource Locatorxe2x80x9d) or document tokens, as defined herein.
Each document token is associated with an electronic document stored in an electronic repository or database. The mobile document transaction service effectively distributes references to documents between mobile computing devices by transmission of document tokens, rather than the documents themselves. For example, a document can be sent to a token-enabled (e.g., an IR transceiver equipped) network printer by xe2x80x9cbeamingxe2x80x9d a document token, which references the document, from a handheld portable computer to the network printer. The token-enabled network printer retrieves the complete document referenced by the document token, and immediately prints a copy of the document. Thus, to a user of the mobile document transaction service, documents are seamlessly passed between users and output or input to token-enabled devices coupled to networks as expansive as the Internet.
In general for a device to be token-enabled, it must be equipped with hardware and software that will enable it to transmit, receive, and manage document tokens. Because many devices are not token-enabled, their services (e.g., printing, faxing, displaying, etc.) are not immediately available to a token-enabled mobile device. Even though many devices are not equipped to transmit, receive, and manage document tokens (i.e., non token-enabled devices), these devices are nonetheless indirectly accessible from a token-enabled mobile device using, for example, the telephone network or the Internet. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a standalone device that token-enabled non token-enabled devices. Advantageously, such a standalone device would seamlessly integrate the operation of non token-enabled devices, such as a fax machines, printers, or computers with token-enabled mobile computing devices without modification and therefore independent of the non token-enabled devices.
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a distributed token-enabled operating environment in which document services are made accessible from a mobile computing device. The mobile computing device dynamically formulates and/or stores document tokens that reference electronic documents located on file servers (i.e., document repositories) coupled to a wire-based network. The mobile computing device includes a user interface for invoking document services to be performed on the electronic documents referenced by the document tokens. The document services are provided by token-enabled devices and non token-enabled devices. Unlike the token-enabled devices, which are equipped to transmit, receive and manage document tokens, the non token-enabled devices are not so equipped.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a token-enabler unit is attached to or located proximate to a non token-enabled device. The token-enabler unit is configured to respond to queries from mobile computing devices requesting the identification of document services available at the non token-enabled device to which it is attached or proximately located. The token-enabler unit responds to document service request from the mobile computing device by providing information for identifying document services offered by the non token-enabled device. Upon receipt of the identifying information, the mobile computing device through a token-enabled server invokes services available at the non token-enabled device to be performed on electronic documents referenced by selected document tokens.